Student activists burnt an effigy of Education Minister Christopher Pyne while chanting "Chris Pyne, f--- you, we deserve a future too" during a rally in the city on Wednesday.
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Trams were held up for half an hour as about 1000 people marched through the CBD, staging a short sit-in at the corner of Bourke and Swanston streets to protest against proposed education reforms. No arrests were made.
The rally was part of a national day of protests in opposition to the deregulation of university fees.
National Union of Students education officer Sarah Garnham said burning the effigy was a response to Mr Pyne's scathing responses to the campaign to keep fees down.
The protest "shows that despite the fact the budget was released in May and the government have done everything they can to try and bury it, to distract people with a whole series of other things, the budget is still a very live issue in Australia" Ms Garnham said.
